Ex-Lawyer Gets 15 Years for Misleading Sellers in Mortgage-Rescue Scheme

A disbarred Illinois lawyer has been sentenced to a 15-year federal prison term for participating in a fraudulent mortgage-rescue scheme.

The U..S. Attorney’s office says Norton Helton, 50, received above-market fees for serving as a closing attorney at over 100 transactions, in which sellers who had falsely been assured that they would retain a right to reclaim their homes after living in them for a year, rent-free, were in fact relinquishing them permanently, WLS reports.

The owner of the Eyes Have Not Seen operation was sentenced late last year to more than 22 years in the Northern District of Illinois case.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Convicted Ex-Bankruptcy Attorney Could Get Up to 20 Years Per Count in Mortgage Fraud”